I've spent weeks using Microsoft's ambitious new foldable phone with 2 screens — here are the best and worst things about it

Lisa Eadicicco/Business Insider

• Microsoft's Surface Duo is a foldable Android smartphone with two screens that can open and close like a book.
• The Surface Duo's unconventional design and hinge make it great for productivity.
• But it still has many drawbacks, especially when it comes to the quality of its camera.

After remaining largely absent from the mobile phone industry for years, Microsoft finally made its grand reentry with the Surface Duo: a dual-screened Android phone that folds in half like a book.

It's an ambitious idea to say the least. Like the Surface tablet that preceded it, the Surface Duo was born from the idea that a mobile device doesn't have to fall into just one category. The Surface tablet, for example, aimed to replace some of the duties of your laptop.

The Surface Duo isn't quite trying to serve as both a tablet and a phone. But with two screens and an unconventional design, it's certainly trying to do more than the average smartphone.

While I loved having two screens for multitasking, the Surface Duo, which launched on September 10 for $1,400, asks you to make too many compromises.

Here are the best and worst things I've found about using the Surface Duo over the course of the last two weeks.